A Mother's Embrace
by Maiya16
Summary: (rated T just incase) (contains spoilers) Now that the worlds are united Lloyd asks Collette to help him learn some angel skills. However visions of his mother, Anna, starts to make things difficult. Are these really just visions? Or not?
1. Angel Feathers

Sadly. I don't own Tales of Symphonia. And sadder still, I don't own Kratos

Kratos: Hmm?

Lloyd: W-What -.-

Uhh, nevermind

* * *

"Oh holy one… I beg of you to reveal thy… Psshhh! ha-ha! Sorry Collette but I feel stupid!" 

Lloyd started laughing harder. The more he tried to attempt this, the funnier it seemed to become to him. He had never been a religious person or anything like that, so chanting these angelic spells seemed a little bit amusing.

The blonde girl watching him, Collette, put her hands together and replied to his usual idiocy with a cute smile.

"It's ok! Keep trying Lloyd. I know you can do this!"

_Why did I even want to do this?_ Lloyd thought to himself as he closed his eyes for another try.

"Just relax Lloyd." She took his hand softly in hers and adjusted his fingers for the Angel Feathers spell. "Hehe, here you go." She said quietly as her cheeks turned pink. "Now, move your hand from here, to here-" She moved his hand to the other side of his chest, "then to here and then back again."

"Alright, I think I got it. Thanks Collette."

Lloyd moved his hand across his chest, down slightly and back to the beginning just as she had shown him a moment ago.

_'Become one with your exsphere' how do I do that?_ Lloyd was going through what he had been told earlier. _I have to do this right! I just have to. I want mom and dad to be proud_

A circle of light started to grow around his feet, followed by pale blue feathers floating around him and up into the air. Collette took a small gasp. He was doing it! He was finally getting the hang of it!

"Oh holy one… I beg of you to reveal thy glory…"

A blue symbol of light painted itself on the floor under Lloyd's feet. His body trembled slightly under the weight of his exsphere, which felt as if it was turning to lead on his hand.

"ANGEL FEATHERS!" Lloyd yelled as he threw his hand dramatically up into the air.

Nothing…

"Dammit! I don't get it!" He panted and leaned on the wall of his house. The wood of the wall was still covered in a fine layer of dew so the coolness felt refreshing against his tired body "What did I do wrong?"

"I… I don't know." Collette replied honestly. "It usually works for me."

"Hmmm. Maybe I need to make up my own spell words… You and Kratos both had a different way of casting Judgement"

Collette's face lit up "Wow! Yes! You're so smart Lloyd!"

"Hehe, you're making me blush." He mildly boasted and scratched the back of his head.

"I wonder what your spell could be?" Collette thought to herself aloud, "Maybe… maybe you have to come up with it yourself?"

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah! When you think you have an idea you can come and see me in Iselia later."

"Oh… You're leaving?"

"I've got to go with grandmother to Meltokio remember?"

Of course. Her and Phaidra always went once a week to have meetings with the King and Zelos. He didn't know what about exactly, Collette was not allowed to tell anyone. However Lloyd was not too bothered about knowing. It all seemed boring to him.

"Oh, oh yeah. I'll see you later then."

"Okay!"

Collette gave him one last smile made her way down the path. She stopped at the bridge and looked back at Lloyd for a moment, who waved his hand and grinned at her. Collette waved back and then continued to walk away heading towards the Iselia forest.

"You should have asked to escort her back son." Dirk's rough voice said, his face popping up in the window nearby.

"Whoa!" Lloyd jumped from surprise and turned to face his foster father "How long were you listening in dad?"

"Long enough." A smile slowly appeared on his face and he walked outside to join Lloyd.

"Well, I uh. Uh no you got it all wrong." Lloyd could feel his face burning and sweat trailing down his face. He looked the other way pretending to admire the morning sun "Nice isn't it dad?"

Dirk walked next to him "Lloyd, your face is red."

"Ah stop it you dork." Lloyd put on a grin and nudged him a little "I have been training, you know that."

Dirks face went serious again "Come on, tell me the truth. You know Dwarvern vow number-"

"Ahhh! Wait! No Dwarvern vows!" He paused and shuffled his feet "Ok. I… I like her."

"Fair enough. I won't go into it any further." Trying not to smile at his victory he walked back inside leaving Lloyd alone.

Lloyd went over to his mother's grave and sat down on the ground. He smiled to himself as he ran a hand along the headstone. "Am I doing this right?" He leant forward and rest his forehead against the stone. "I need help mastering my exsphere. I want to be able to protect the giant tree!"

He fell silent as a playful breeze suddenly ruffled his hair. He slowly got up to his feet, there was no way she could reply to him, he was kidding himself if he wanted to find his answers here. But something felt comforting about talking to Anna aloud; it made it feel as if she was alive. It also made him feel as if Kratos was still here with him. Part of Lloyd only wanted to learn more about his exsphere and it'sangel powers in hope that his father would return somehow.

Growing faint from hunger he headed inside for some breakfast and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

* * *

That night, Lloyd went to bed early. He flopped down feeling exhausted from training with his twin swords for the past 3 hours. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly. 

"Lloyd…"

Huh, what? He got up and dozily looked around. At the other end of his room stood a woman he didn't recognise. Surprised at the intruder, he reached for his swords.

The woman didn't say anything; she just looked at Lloyd with her big reddish brown eyes and smiled. A warm sensation filled up in his stomach. She looked familiar…

_Mom?_

He forgot about his swords and let his hands flop down by his side. The woman walked closer to him. Her feet made no footsteps, so it seemed as if she was gliding. A shiver ran down Lloyd's back and he became too shocked to move. His body slowly hunched and relaxed again when Anna placed her hands softly on his shoulders as she finally reached him.

He could see her clearer now, her eyes were identical to his, and she had the same colour hair also, which was draped over her shoulders and covered part of her front.

"It is you…" Lloyd gasped. He shakily lifted up a hand and touched her face to check if she was real.

Anna covered his hand with one of hers "My baby." She whispered "My beautiful baby…"

"Mom?"

She didn't respond to him. She simply began to stroke his hand and held him close with her other arm. Lloyd used her shoulder as a pillow and closed his eyes. Feeling as if he was a young child again.

"Mom…"

"Baby, your soul was once a star." Shestarted to hum as if her words were a lullaby"A star, which decided to bless me with you one day…"

"Mom, can you hear me? Are you ok?"

Here eyes filled up with tears and she suddenly looked frightened. She turned and let him go, then drifted over to the terrace.

"Hey, wait!" He hurried after her and skidded to a halt to see she had stopped again.

The wind picked up and blew her hair off her shoulders. It fluttered behind her back and the loose strands danced about in the wind. She slowly faced him and he let out a small yell; her hair had been hiding blood.

"Mom! Are you ok?"

She started to cry and her small weeping sounds rang loudly in Lloyd's ears. Her crying became louder still and she screamed as if something was attacking her.

"All that blood. Is that where dad-"

Her expression turned from scared to horrified, the bleeding had gradually got worse and began to stain her entire shirt. She turned and ran away but this time she did not glide but ran like she was trying to escape off of the terrace.

"No, don't go!"

He ran after her holding one of his hands out in hopes to reach her quicker. What seemed like only a second later all he could see was dirt in his face? A wave of pain travelled along his body and that's when he realised he was on the ground.

"Lloyd!"

The door opened and Dirks silhouette appeared in the frame.

* * *

The next morning Lloyd woke up back in his bed. Collette was sitting quietly at the other end of the room. 

"Collette?"

"Lloyd! Thank goodness you're awake! Dirk told me you fell and hurt yourself."

_I did_? He sat and thought for a moment and it all came back to him

"How are you feeling Lloyd?"

"I feel better now, thanks - Hey Collette I think I am ready to try casting Angel Feathers again."

"Really? I'm so happy! As long as you're ok then let's go outside."

"Yeah."

They both hurried downstairs and outside together. Collette held her hands against each other and gave him a smile. Lloyd grinned back excitedly and closed his eyes to try the spell yet again.

He began to mutter his made up version of the spell andhis voice quickly grew louder and confident "Soulsof the stars, shine bright and defeat the enemy… Angel feathers!"

Blue feathers shot up into the air and the symbol of the angels shimmered on the ground under his feet. As it got brighter and brighter, more of his energy began to slip away causing his exsphere to become heavier.

Quickly Lloyd lost sight and everything went black.

* * *

Yeah well that was the first chapter, sorry if it was too long or anything for a first chapter. When I write I usually find it hard to stop x.x 

Lloyd: Aww man why did you keep making me pass out

Maiya: Because you are training really hard

Lloyd: hehe, yeah

Sheena: Ugh, he's got a bit ego...

well if this is any good I'll put up a second chapter. Annnd if not, give me constructive critisism

pac man: yeah none of 'tis suxxorz lol'

uh ya, what he said


	2. Being a familly again

A/N: I must admit I was surprised to see people actually review XD. So thanks to all of you! It's always like that when you're new huh? No one ever looks usually lol :o

So here is chapter 2. Sorry this has taken quite a while but my French-speaking exam was important and I had to learn for it-

Random person: Get on with it!

Oh, sorry. I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Kratos or any other ToS related characters.

(edit: now that I am awake I have tried to correct all the spelling errors that were made)

* * *

"He's been asleep like this for hours professor. Will he be ok?"

"I don't know Collette dear, we will have to see - Lloyd are you ok? Lloyd!"

"Professor… I'm not sleeping in class… Really"

"Lloyd!" Raines voice became sharper in his head and he forced open his eyes to see what was going on.

"Professor? What are you doing here?"

"I heard off of Collette that you were sick. She found us quickly after you passed out this morning."

"I'm ok Professor Sage." Lloyd felt his pride slightly damaged. It was not often that he got hurt, especially enough to cause him to pass out. His hands shook a little and he hung his head

_What is going on with me?_

The door creaked open and another face entered the room. It was non other then his best friend Genis.

"I should have imagined you'd get into trouble as soon as we left Iselia Lloyd."

His friend was such a smart ass. Yet, his little comments strangely felt more like compliments these days. He would never forget what Genis said back in the passage to the Great Seed during their past adventures 'I wanted to be like you.'

_So if Genis wanted to be like me, he'd want to be stupid too right?_

This thought made Lloyd grin happily at Genis, who looked amused to see that his casual insult had no effect, but what was new with that anyway? Lloyd wasn't the brightest person in town. Not by a long shot.

"It's good to see you guys." Lloyd said sitting up in his bed. "I'm alright, I was training a lot. I think I have slept it off."

Raine put a hand on his forehead and she frowned "Lloyd Irving! You have a fever! Of course you are not ok! Dirk can you tell me what's been going on? What are his symptoms?"

Shocked at the barrage of questions Dirk scratched his head "Aye, well it all started when he kept tryin' to learn them Angel skills."

Raine cast Lloyd a strange look "Lloyd? You fight with twin swords so why…" She paused "Never mind." She took Lloyds hand and rest her fingers on his wrist "His pulse is too fast also. He needs rest."

"Professor Sage! I need to keep training!"

"If you want your body to break down from fatigue, then go ahead." She replied coolly

"Fat…Tigue? What?"

"It means tired. You're stupid, Lloyd." Genis said with a smirk.

"Shut up Genis - Alright I'll get some rest."

_I give up. The Professor will never let me leave this room and dad will probably stop me also_.

He rest back down and closed his eyes

_I wonder if I'll see my mom again if I fall asleep?_

* * *

Lloyd opened his eyes to see he was on a grassy green field.

_Whoa, where am I?_

He walked forward cautiously. The place looked familiar to him but new at the same time.

"Look dear, he's walking!"

_That was mom's voice!_

He spun around to see Anna yet again. She took his hands and held them loosely over his head

"Come on Lloyd, keep walking."

_What?_

He took a step forward to humour her so that she would speak again

"See Kratos, look!" Her eyes shone proudly at Lloyd as she pulled him into a warm embrace. "You're so talented Lloyd!"

"Uh, really?"

Not hearing him, she turned to look at Kratos who had just appeared nearby with Noishe.

_Whoa, Kratos is not in that funky purple outfit! _Lloyd thought as he took a good look at his father. Kratos was wearing black semi baggy pants and a plain brown shirt, which had the first button undone, showing a locket around his neck. His double edge steel sword he remembered him having when they first met was still by his side as always.

"Whine, whine." Noishe went over to Lloyd and started to lick his cheek.

Anna laughed "See Lloyd? Noishe is proud of you too."

Kratos put an arm around Anna and watched Noishe also "We'll have to get moving soon Anna. We cannot stay in one place for too long."

Of course. Kratos had to kill the special moment with the painful truth.

"I guess you're right." Anna admitted with a slight pout as she took Lloyd's hand "Come on Lloyd it is time to go now."

Lloyd let himself get dragged along by Anna not knowing what else he could do. This was starting to become too strange for comfort. None of this made any sense to him. Why did these dreams feel so real?

Noishe walked protectively by Kratos and would occasionally sniff the air and howl. Every time he did, Kratos watched with a look of concentration on his face. What where they doing exactly?

"There are Desians in every direction." Kratos said with a hint of aggravation showing through. Odd to see him lose his cool. "Either that or they are monsters. Anna, Lloyd, be on the lookout."

Lloyd nodded obediently and kept his eyes fixed on as much of the horizon as he could. His eyes started to hurt but he strained them and continued to keep a close watch to help out his parents.

They all stopped walking to see a group of thieves on the pathway.

"Give us your money!" One of them demanded

"Give it or the woman and the kid get it!"

Kratos smirked "Humph. Foolish."

He un-sheathed his sword but didn't move, the thieves ran over to him instead. He stepped forward and swung his sword slowly through the air. The first thief yelled in pain as a deep gash had been made in his arm. The other two thieves looked at each other and appeared to be puzzled.

"How did he do that he barely moved his sword!"

The other thief didn't answer back looking just as confused. Kratos stepped forward slowly and they both ran, tugging along their injured comrade.

"Dear, why didn't you use any of your angel powers?"

Kratos smiled slightly, "I would of Anna, but Cruxis may of spotted me and found out where we were."

"Ah, yes of course." Anna agreed as she went over and hugged him "Come on Lloyd, hug mommy and daddy."

Lloyd went red _Mommy and Daddy? _He looked at them both and wrapped his arms around them – all together for the first time in such a long while. It was a strange feeling; he had never had this, the feeling of being with your mother and father.

"Let's set up camp for the night. Lloyd looks tired." Kratos suggested

Anna sat down looking grateful for some rest "Lloyd, you wanna sit with mom?"

He nodded and sat down next to her. She gently moved his head onto her shoulder and stroked his hair. That same feeling of weakness slowly took over Lloyd's body as it had back in his room the other night. He closed his eyes and simply enjoyed being in a family, even if it was one that was in his own dream world. He listened as Kratos paced about occasionally. The soft crackling of a fire made him open his eyes again. Noise was laying on his side, trying to soak up some of the warmth made by the flames. Kratos eventually sat next to him and Anna and smiled.

"If you two wish to rest. I will be the night watch."

"You sure you don't need any sleep dear?"

"I will be fine watching over you and Lloyd."

Anna kissed his cheek and then held Lloyd protectively in her arms "Good night." She smiled at her husband and closed her eyes. "Good night my little Lloyd."

"… Goodnight mom." He closed his eyes and drifted off.

* * *

"Lloyd!"

"Huh?"

He opened his eyes to see a blurred figure shaking his shoulders.

"Mom?"

A hand lightly slapped him across the face and the figure went into focus.

"Professor Raine?"

"Lloyd, are you ok? Are you hurt?" Collette suddenly asked from the chair by his bed "Your exsphere was glowing so brightly!"

Lloyd looked to his hand; his exsphere seemed normal to him. It had never lit up before - Only that one time when he used it's power to reach the Great Seed, and that was almost half a year ago. Since then he had not seen it act out of the ordinary.

"My exsphere was glowing?"

"Yes, for now I am going to call the phenomenon Exsphere-oddness."

Raine slapped Genis hard across the head "Now is not the time to joke!" She scorned. After Genis apologised to avoid another smack, her attention fixed back on Lloyd. Genis however, continued to rub a hand over the red mark Raine had just created on his head.

"Lloyd. I want you to come back with me to the Elemental Research Laboratory. I contacted Zelos and we have permission to study the exsphere in there."

_Oh no, she's gone into ruin mode on my exsphere…_

* * *

A/N: And that's all folks XD. I am sorry this is not very long but my brain is still fried from the French exam today. Same goes for if there are spelling errors I am sorry Comment are appreciated - pleases and thank you's 


	3. An Illusion Skill

Oh man! Finally get time for another Chapter! This one will be fairly short but thats because soon I go on vacation to New Zealand and I got to pack

Lloyd: How could you leave me waiting for so long? T.T

Huggles I'm sorry Lloyd

Kratos:... Heh

Lloyd> > ; don't laugh at me

* * *

Chapter 3 - Illusion Skill

"Sigh, I wish the professor would study me..."

"Ugh Zelos, you're such a pig."

"Aw, don't say that Sheena." He replied teasingly, giving her a smirk "Would it hurt you to admit that you love me?"

"Eugh. You've got to be kidding me…"

"Please, we shouldn't be fighting each other." Collette bravely chirped in holding her hands together "We have to be quiet so the Professor can work, for Lloyds sake."

Sheena looked away grumbling and Zelos sat down and flicked his hair, feeling quite please with himself._ 'She so wants me'_

"Fascinating…" Raine suddenly murmured observing Lloyd's exsphere closer. "The exsphere has actually changed colour. I wonder why?"

Everyone walked closer and swarmed around to look at his now purple exsphere.

"I'm not an animal in a zoo you guys." Lloyd commented huffily, causing Regal, Collette and Presea to take a few steps back to make him feel less crowded.

"Heh, you could have fooled me."

"Shut up Genis! Professor Sage, do you know what's happening to me?"

"… I'm not quite sure yet." She paused and then gave Lloyd a look of concern "I couldn't help but notice the other day you called me mom."

"I… did?"

She frowned "Yes, you did. Have you seen seeing images of your mother at all?"

Lloyd gulped. He knew he had but he did not want to talk about it… Why did the Professor always pay attention to such tiny details?_ 'I guess that's why she's a Professor…'_

"Oh Lloyd that must be terrible!" Collette said with a loud gasp "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I thought they were just weird dreams."

Raine folded her arms and mused for a moment "… Lloyd, did you see Kratos in your dreams as well?"

"Professor Sage? How did you…"

"Know?" She finished shaking her head a little "It's fairly obvious. I think that it is a possibility that the memories of your exsphere are somehow taking a visible form. I just don't know why…"

"Oh! Oh, wait a second!" Collette bounced up and down on her toes and her eyes lit up like an idea "Lloyd has been trying to learn angel skills! Remember?"

Lloyd shrugged, "So what?"

"When using angel skills, one has to tap into their power with the exsphere. This results in it becoming more active then it would usually be. Hmmm, now this is just theory, but it's possible that when Lloyd activated the deeper power of the exsphere…"

"Then he would be able to make illusions, even if he did it subconsciously, like what Mithos did to us with the Derris Emblem?" Genis thought aloud.

"Exactly!"

Lloyd gave a small sigh; this was starting to give him a headache.

"This doesn't make any sense…"


End file.
